After the blue wave: investor nerves, nuclear power and the Green New Deal

Democrats won both the House and the Senate on November 3. Three questions came up right away. Are investors pulling back? Will the new Congress stall nuclear energy? Will it bring back the Green New Deal? Here is what the evidence says so far, with the caveat that the new Congress isn't sworn in until January 3, 2027.

−4.36%S&P 500 on Nov 5, its worst second day after a midterm in nearly a century

−12%Philadelphia chip index the same day

+7.4%S&P 500 year to date, even after the drop

36.0MOKLO shares sold through ATM programs since Dec 2025 (to Sep 30)

Bottom line

Investors aren't fleeing. They're repricing one theme. Stocks rallied the day after the election, then sold off hard the next day. The selling was concentrated in AI and chip stocks, on fears that Democrats will slow the data-center buildout.
Congress is unlikely to target nuclear power directly. Support is bipartisan. The real risks are indirect: tax-credit horse-trading, fights over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the push to restrict data centers.
A Green New Deal law is very unlikely before 2029. President Trump can veto it, and Democrats lack the votes to override. Democrats had also stopped pushing the resolution well before the election. Expect a fight to restore clean-energy tax credits, plus heavy oversight, instead.

1. Are investors reluctant to invest since Election Day?

Not broadly, but they are nervous about one corner of the market.

Day	What happened
Wed, Nov 4	Relief rally. The Dow gained more than 1,500 points (about 3%), its best day since April 2025. The S&P 500 rose about 1.6%. Oil fell more than 8% and Treasury yields dropped. Trump said overnight that he accepted the results and would work with Democrats, which removed a major source of uncertainty.
Thu, Nov 5	Reversal. The S&P 500 fell 4.36% to 7,353.73 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52%. All 11 S&P sectors closed lower. Tech fell 7.3% and the chip index lost 12%. The VIX jumped about 70%.

Why the split? Several Democrats who flipped seats campaigned directly against data centers. Some called for pauses or national moratoriums on new construction. Markets read that as a threat to the AI buildout that has carried much of this year's gains, so chip and AI-infrastructure stocks took the hit. Consumer and economically sensitive stocks did better on Wednesday as oil fell.

Context: the S&P 500 is still up about 7.4% for 2026, and analysts' earnings estimates hit a record high just as prices fell. That pushed the index's forward P/E below 18. Historically, the year after a midterm has been strong for stocks: the S&P 500 has averaged a 12.4% return since 1900. History isn't a forecast, though, and prices alone don't show whether money is leaving the market. Fund-flow data is the better test.

2. Will Congress halt nuclear energy growth?

The evidence points to no. Nuclear is one of the few energy sources with backing from both parties.

Democrats have warmed to nuclear. The party platform endorsed it in 2020 for the first time in decades. Democratic governors including Kathy Hochul (New York), Katie Hobbs (Arizona) and Maura Healey (Massachusetts) now back it as part of meeting new power demand. Hochul wants 5 GW of new nuclear online by 2040. Gallup found Democratic support at 46% in 2025, up from 34% in 2016.
Risk 1: tax-credit bargaining. The Department of Energy wants Congress to expand the nuclear investment tax credit. With a Democratic House, that request is likely to get folded into Democrats' push to restore the wind and solar credits Republicans repealed. Nuclear incentives could become a bargaining chip.
Risk 2: the NRC. In July, Rep. Frank Pallone warned that Democratic support for nuclear could disappear if Trump fires another NRC commissioner. Fights over regulator independence could spill into nuclear legislation.
Risk 3: the data-center backlash. For advanced-reactor developers, this matters most. Much of the case for small reactors rests on AI data-center demand. Proposals range from a nationwide ban (from the party's far left) to "conditional" moratoriums. Ohio Governor-elect Amy Acton backs one that would require data centers to cover all their energy costs and bring their own power. A "bring your own power" rule could actually favor on-site reactors, depending on how it's written.

Takeaway: Congress is unlikely to turn against nuclear. The bigger risk is that it slows the demand nuclear stocks are betting on.

What it means for OKLO

Oklo pays for its buildout by selling new shares through at-the-market (ATM) programs, so its share price directly sets how much dilution it takes on. Through September 30, 2026, Oklo had sold 36,006,228 shares across three programs for about $2.59 billion in gross proceeds:

Program	Shares sold	Gross proceeds	Avg. net price
2025 ATM ($1.5B, Dec 2025 – May 2026)	15,774,224	~$1.50B	$96.95 (2026 portion)
2026 ATM Program 1 ($1B, May – Sep 10, 2026)	17,971,448	~$1.00B	$55.64
2026 ATM Program 2 ($1B, opened Sep 11, still active)	2,260,556	~$88.8M	$39.30

About $911M remains on the current program. The average sale price has fallen from about $97 to $39, so every dollar raised now costs more shares. Any slowdown in data-center demand that pushes the stock lower makes that dilution worse. Sales after September 30 won't be disclosed until Oklo's next SEC filing.

3. Will the Democratic majority resurrect the Green New Deal?

As law, almost certainly not before 2029.

The veto. Trump can veto anything Congress sends him. Democrats don't have two-thirds majorities in either chamber to override.
Democrats had already moved on. Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced the Green New Deal resolution in 2019 and reintroduced it in 2021 and 2023. Neither reintroduced it in the current Congress. A 2025 Axios count found congressional Democrats said "Green New Deal" only six times in three months. Republicans said it 337 times. The branded pieces that survive are narrower, such as the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act, reintroduced in August 2026.
What Democrats are pushing instead. The main vehicle is the Energy Bills Relief Act from Reps. Sean Casten and Mike Levin, with 122 House Democratic cosponsors. It would restore the clean-energy tax credits repealed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, reinstate cancelled grants, put $2.1 billion toward transformer shortages, and make large users like data centers pay their own electricity costs. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has also promised to restore clean-energy credits.
Expect oversight. After Democrats won the Senate, Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, posted one word: "Subpoenas." Investigations into the Energy Department's funding cuts and offshore-wind cancellations are likely.

Possible openings: some clean-energy credits have Republican support and could pass in a deal. Green New Deal advocates say openly that their real target is 2029, if Democrats also win the White House in 2028. Some analysts call most of the tax-credit agenda symbolic while Trump holds the veto.

What to watch

Whether the chip and AI-infrastructure selloff spreads into the broader market, or stays limited to that theme.
The Democratic leadership's first energy bill in January, and whether nuclear incentives are in it or used as a bargaining chip.
Any federal data-center proposal: whether it's a moratorium or a rule that data centers bring their own power.
Oklo's 10-K, for ATM sales after September 30.

Not investment advice. Sources: Washington Post (results), CNBC (Nov 4–5 markets), 24/7 Wall St. (Nov 5 selloff), Fidelity, U.S. News (historical returns), E&E News (nuclear tax credit), E&E News (Democratic governors), Third Way, ExchangeMonitor (Pallone), Latitude Media (data centers), Heatmap, Boston Globe (Green New Deal), Axios, SEEC (Energy Bills Relief Act), Oklo Q3 2026 10-Q, Oklo 8-K, May 13, 2026. Published Nov 6, 2026.